To choose a manufacturer, first write a specification, then shortlist factories with real experience in your product, verify their documents, pay for samples, inspect the site or commission an audit, and sign a contract covering ownership and quality. The lowest quote is rarely the lowest cost: rework, delay and failed tests all sit on your bill, and legally the brand owner usually stays responsible for the product whichever factory made it.
Start with a specification, not a search
A factory can only quote accurately against a clear brief. Include the product’s function, materials or formula targets, dimensions, performance, packaging, target markets, annual volume and target landed cost. If you do not know a detail, say so, and ask them to propose. A vague request yields a low first price that climbs later, when changes appear.
Build a shortlist
Look where the people who already make your product are found: trade fairs, industry directories, referrals, marketplaces and national trade bodies. A listing does not prove competence, and a reseller can look like a factory online. Ask four things first:
- Do you make this yourself? Which steps are subcontracted?
- Who else do you make it for, in which markets? Client names may be confidential, but the markets should not be.
- Have you passed tests for the markets I want? Please show a report on a comparable product.
- What is your minimum, broken down by component?
Aim for three to five candidates. Fewer means no comparison, while more wastes everyone’s time.
Verify the documents
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Name matches the invoice, the bank account and the certificate |
| Certificates | Valid dates, scope covers your product, issuer can confirm it |
| Test reports | Same product and material, recent, from a credible laboratory, not edited |
| Regulatory status | For example, FDA food facility registration or cosmetic facility registration for US-bound goods, where required |
| Export record | Experience shipping to your market, and with its paperwork |
Registration is not endorsement. FDA, for instance, says it does not issue certificates that verify compliance for cosmetic facility registration or listing, so a so-called FDA certificate should raise your suspicion. Our general advice here is checked for each project with a specialist, because the correct documents depend on product and market.
Sampling without fooling yourself
Pay for samples, because free ones can come from a different source than production. Judge them against a written checklist. Keep one approved sample, signed and dated, as the reference for later disputes. Then ask for a pre-production sample from the actual materials and tools, because the first prototype often does not reflect what mass production will produce.
For regulated goods, send the production-representative sample to testing. A pass on an early prototype tells you little if the material later changes.
See the site, or send someone
A visit or a paid audit shows what a website cannot. Look at:
- Whether the people and equipment exist for your volume
- Handling of incoming materials and how batches are tracked
- Quality checks during production, not only at the end
- Cleanliness and any cross-contact controls, for food and cosmetics
- Working conditions, since retailers may ask, and it reflects on your brand
If you cannot go, use a third-party audit firm that you pay directly.
Compare total cost
Put quotes in one table: unit price, packaging, tooling, samples, testing support, payment terms, lead time, Incoterm, freight and duty. A factory with a higher ex-works price can have a lower landed cost, and better payment terms can matter as much to a small business as the price. Run the result through the margin calculator, including a rate for defects.
The contract terms that protect you
- Ownership. Formula, patterns, moulds and artwork belong to you, with a right to take them elsewhere.
- Specification. The signed spec and approved sample define acceptable goods.
- Change control. No change of material, supplier or site without written notice and approval.
- Quality. Sampling plan, defect limits, and who pays for rework.
- Confidentiality and non-use. For formula and design, ideally enforceable where the factory is based.
- Payment. Balance is released after an inspection passes.
- Exit. Handover of tools and unused materials when the relationship ends.
A contract does not remove your legal duties. In the EU, a company selling under its own name is treated as the manufacturer, and importers keep a copy of the technical documentation for 10 years. In the US, the importer must meet FSVP duties for food and certify CPSC-regulated goods. Have a lawyer review the agreement in the jurisdiction that matters.
Inspect before you pay the balance
Book a pre-shipment inspection through someone independent of the factory, using an agreed sampling plan (AQL is the usual method) and your checklist. Check function, appearance, packaging, labels, carton marks and quantity. For a first order, a check during production too can catch problems while there is still time to fix them.
Warning signs
- The factory will not say which steps are done where
- A certificate’s name differs from that of the company you are paying
- A request for payment to a personal account or a new bank account at the last moment
- Refusal to sign anything on ownership
- Any promise that compliance is covered and you need not worry
Group practice in plush and souvenirs shows us how much difference a clear specification makes. In other categories we work with selected contract manufacturers. See manufacturing and contract manufacturing, or compare the models in OEM and ODM.